Engagement of parents as stakeholders in the research process can help ensure that interventions are aligned with their needs and experiences, but little is known about their preferences for research collaboration.
The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory study was to explore former neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) parents' attitudes toward engagement as parent collaborators and identify potential barriers and facilitators to parent collaboration in research.
Three focus groups and 3 interviews were conducted. Participants completed a demographic survey including information about their child's hospitalization. Parents were asked to discuss their NICU story, involvement in the parent community, experience with research, and factors influencing their decision to collaborate on a research study.
Nine parents completed the study. Participation was motivated by a desire to help other families. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/cdk2-inhibitor-73.html Recruitment suggestions included using parent organizations, social media networks, and advertising in thes conference calls and online training.Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) has been associated with red blood cell (RBC) transfusions in preterm infants. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can be used to noninvasively monitor regional oxygen saturations (rSO2).
This former 28-week female premature infant, 29 days old, received an RBC transfusion due to increased apneic spells and a hematocrit of 27%. Within 24 hours she developed abdominal distension and passed a bloody stool (Bell's stage 2 NEC on abdominal x-ray). She completed 7 days of antibiotics and nothing-by-mouth status and was discharged home on room air and oral feedings on day of life 70.
We describe the presentation of NEC following a RBC transfusion in a preterm infant monitored with cerebral and splanchnic NIRS.
Mean rSO2 (cerebral and splanchnic) measurements were continuously recorded and calculated in 30-minute periods at baseline (prior to packed RBC transfusion), every hour during the RBC transfusion, and every 3 hours for the following 48 hours.
In this infant, average baseline splanchnic rSO2 was low at 46.5%, and increased during transfusion to 65%. However, following the RBC transfusion and an enteral feeding, splanchnic rSO2 dramatically decreased to 26%, and remained low until the time of NEC diagnosis.
To develop awareness of the increased risk for NEC in premature infants with significant anemia that receive packed RBC transfusions. With further studies and education, NIRS could be a valuable tool for the nurses and medical team to identify these at-risk neonates.
To develop awareness of the increased risk for NEC in premature infants with significant anemia that receive packed RBC transfusions. With further studies and education, NIRS could be a valuable tool for the nurses and medical team to identify these at-risk neonates.Preterm infants experience a multitude of prenatal and postnatal stressors, resulting in cumulative stress exposure, which may jeopardize the timely attainment of developmental milestones, such as achieving oral feeding. Up to 70% of preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit experience challenges while initiating oral feeding. Oral feeding skills require intact neurobehavioral development. Evolving evidence demonstrates that cumulative stress exposure results in epigenetic modification of glucocorticoid-related genes. Epigenetics is a field of study that focuses on phenotypic changes that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. Epigenetic modification of glucocorticoid-related genes alters cortisol reactivity to environmental stimuli, which may influence neurobehavioral development, and is the essence of the evolving field of Preterm Behavioral Epigenetics. It is plausible that early-life cumulative stress exposure and the ensuing epigenetic modification of glucocorticoid-related igations that develop and test epigenetic protective interventions to improve clinical outcomes, representing an innovation in neonatal care.
Future investigations guided by the proposed conceptual model will benefit preterm infant outcomes by introducing epigenetic-based approaches to assess and monitor preterm infant oral feeding skills. Furthermore, the proposed model can guide future investigations that develop and test epigenetic protective interventions to improve clinical outcomes, representing an innovation in neonatal care.Nurses are caring for increasing numbers of infants diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). The recommended initial line of treatment to alleviate NAS symptoms includes nonpharmacologic interventions; however, there is little rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of nonpharmacologic interventions.
The purpose of this study was to assess the safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of weighted blankets in the care of NAS infants.
This pilot study was a crossover randomized nonblinded controlled trial conducted at a level III neonatal intensive care unit. Infants' care included 30-minute sessions utilizing either a nonweighted or weighted blanket, with infants serving as their own controls.
A total of 16 patients were enrolled for a total of 67 weighted blanket sessions. To address safety, no adverse events were observed, the weighted blankets were never removed due to infant distress, and infants experienced no significant temperature change. To address feasibility, 94% of approached mothers were receptive to the use of weighted blankets and staff reported no obstacles to using the blanket. Finally, to assess effectiveness, there was a significant decrease in the infant's heart rate and Finnegan score when a weighted blanket was used. There was no significant change in respiratory rate with the use of a weighted blanket.
Weighted blankets may be safe, feasible, and effective in decreasing NAS symptoms.
Larger studies are needed to thoroughly study the use of weighted blankets in this population and examine additional outcomes, such as need for pharmacologic intervention, length of hospital stay, and cost of hospital stay.
Larger studies are needed to thoroughly study the use of weighted blankets in this population and examine additional outcomes, such as need for pharmacologic intervention, length of hospital stay, and cost of hospital stay.